A Little Bit
by xJubes
Summary: Hank finds himself at a bit of a loss.
1. New Recruits?

**A/N: **_Beast has always been one of my favorite characters (second to Jubilee) and in watching a young Hank in XMFC I was completely enamored by him. I'm well aware that Jubilee doesn't appear in the comics until the late 80's but given that this is my work of fiction I can take it upon myself to change it as I see fit. All hail the power of the imagination. :D With that said- I hope you enjoy._

* * *

><p>"Those are the new recruits?" Hank asked a smirking Alex at his side. The duo watched what appeared to be a some sort of man from the wild accompanied by a rather pretty little thing that flanked his right side stroll through the mansion's foyer.<p>

"It's more like a temporary thing I hear," Alex muttered back after clearing his throat. "This guy is no joke. Don't know what his so-called 'gift' is, but he's got the murderous look down pat."

"The girl?" Hank asked with a curious quirk of his head only to immediately duck around the door frame as said girl happened a glance down the hall their way. Alex chuckled quietly and cast a glance down at Hank's hand gripping the front of his shirt to also keep him out of sight.

"Not sure. All I know is that she travels with him." With a well aimed smack Alex was able to make the other (once) man release him. "You could always just ask the professor... you know, if you're so interested."

Hank leveled Alex with a deadpan stare before he turned and stalked off. Chuckling, Alex followed after him- but only after stealing one last peek at the new girl.

"Hank, c'mon! You know I'm just giving you a hard time. It's what I do." The younger man reasoned as he fell in step with Hank, clapping a hand good-naturedly against a thick, broad shoulder. "Loosen up a little, huh?"

"Says the one that looks normal," Hank muttered under his breath. Quickening his step he left Alex behind to linger in the wake of his departure as he locked himself away in his lab.

What the hell did Alex know? Sure, he was a walking nuclear reactor, but unless he had to use his mutation no one knew he so much as carried the X gene. Despite how frustrated Hank felt (with Alex, Sean, or Charles) he knew that he honestly had no one to blame but himself, really. Ultimately his mutation had escaped his control with his overpowering need to be normal. Looking back now- he would give his life to only have gargantuan, freaky looking feet again.

Hank had confined himself to the lab and his bedroom, refusing to be seen unless absolutely necessary. More times than he'd admit to did he stand in the mirror and stare at his reflection for hours. _Hours._ Contemplating Raven's- no, _Mystique's_- last words that fateful day on the beach when she made her decision to leave with Erik- _no,_ **Magneto**- instead of staying with them. With him.

_"Mutant and proud."_

Since the day on the beach and Charles having sent Moira back to the CIA with no recollection of where they were holed up (along with the news of Emma Frost having so-called having "escaped") there had been an influx of people in and out of the mansion. The majority being contractors that only appeared after he and Charles had spent hours looking over blueprints and schematics of the mansion and endless discussions of what exactly it was the older man wanted out of all the new space they were to have.

Hank was thankful for the work, the distraction. Anything that kept him from thinking for too long on where he had gone wrong. Too many hours spent going over the data he had collected, the samples he had tested, the results... in the end it had failed. _He_ had failed.

There came a knock at the door.

"Hank?" It was Charles. "May we come in?"

_Ah, the tour._

With a quick once over to make sure all was where it should be he cleared his throat. "It's open, professor."

Hank made as if he were busy, head bowed low over the legal pad before him, pretending to read over the notes there. From the corner of his eye he watched as the door slowly opened and there came the sound of the professor's motorized wheelchair followed by that of footsteps.

"This is Hank," Charles chuckled quietly in that bemused manner of his. "Hank, I would like to introduce you to Logan and Jubilee. They'll be staying with us for short while."

Steeling himself Hank straightened up to level his gaze on the newcomers. "It's a pleasure."

"Likewise, I'm sure," replied Logan with a grunt and a nod of his head. Hank watched as the man cast a sidelong glance at the young woman at his side, her eyes hidden behind large, tinted lenses. "Manners, Jubes," he chuckled thickly in a way that Hank knew the man couldn't care less whether or not the girl said hello before turning on a heel and walking out the door with Charles following him out.

Now alone Hank did the best he could not to stare as slender fingers pushed the large frames into short raven black hair, revealing a gorgeous set of almond shaped eyes. He was unprepared for when she snapped her gum with a smile; a flash of dazzling white.

"Nice to meet ya."

It was then Hank knew he was doomed.


	2. Of Warnings and Suprises

That "short" while morphed into weeks that turned into months.

Three to be exact.

Aside from the mandatory classes Charles asked that everyone attend, there was also extensive training; both mentally and physically. For a few hours a day the professor took it upon himself to have personal one-on-one meetings with each student to better understand where they came from in their mental capacity (family history, personal plight), and that of their gifts (present since birth or triggered by emotion/tragedy). There also came evaluations to chart the extent of which each student was capable when it came to controlling their powers, along with several different options for what may aid in mastering them.

Meditation was one the professor was quite fond of recommending but not eagerly accepted by the students.

Those months were spent with Hank keeping an eye over the construction in an effort to help Charles focus solely on the students, Alex and Sean aiding as assistants in their training. Each day the students were paired up differently so as to learn on how to work together no matter how different their mutations may be. It was during one of these sessions that Hank bore witness to the fact that Jubilee was a hell of a lot more then a "pretty face"- Sean's own words, not Hank's.

Hank watched the entire thing unravel from the third floor of the mansion the day Jubilee put on the show. Having been paired up with Alex she pulled one arm across her chest in a stretch, followed by the other, as she stepped into the middle of the field- and that was when the magic began. The _colors_ alone were breathtaking as Jubilee had wiggled her fingers playfully at Alex with a cheeky bounce of her brow, but that had been nothing next to all the fluid movement she was capable of. There were so many splits and straddles that Hank found himself blushing like a schoolgirl.

There was no denying that of all the combinations Charles had put together, Alex and Jubilee were the ones that worked best as a team. It was just the right amount of aggression, grace, and quick thinking needed; together they were unstoppable.

Hank had never felt more intimidated in his life.

"She's quite impressive, isn't she?"

Hank cranked his head to the side so hard in his surprise that it was a miracle that he hadn't broken his neck in regarding the man that was at his side. Words and voice failed him as he tried to find something to say but realized that the longer he remained silent the stupider he looked- so he nodded instead. Charles laughed; a warm rush of sound.

"You know, Hank, imprisoning yourself isn't going to help." There came Charles sage, all knowing look with the words. Hank sighed, turning his back to the window before walking away from it altogether. The further away from temptation the better.

"I'm not imprisoning myself, sir," he tried to defend lamely. "I've just been so busy with the expansion and the jet that I haven't really had any spare time. That's all." The silence his answer met caused him to chance a glance and he regretted doing so.

"Is that so?" Charles started with a minute nod. "Perhaps then I should relieve you of your duties, if only for a short while. I would hate to overwork you."

Hank's eyes almost fell out of his head. "No, professor, it's fine. There are no complaints here. Actually, just the opposite. I have a few ideas I want to discuss wi-"

Charles guided his wheelchair forward, his free hand stilling Hank's own working on rolling up a blueprint. "I will not have you hiding away like a redheaded stepchild. I hate to threaten you with handing off your work to someone else, but you _must_ take a break, Hank."

"I will," Hank sighed; a large rush of breath that rattled his lungs in his chest. "I'm just- I don't- I'm not... _ready_."

"I know," Charles nodded gently and shifted back into his chair. "And while I do believe in taking your time to come back to yourself- I will not stand by you locking yourself away. Consider this a warning."

Hank chuckled. "Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>"Do you happen to know what constellation you're looking at?"<p>

The roof- twenty minutes past eleven- was the last place he expected to find her, and Hank immediately felt bad as the raven haired woman jumped and pulled back from the telescope as if it were on fire in being caught. He did his best to smile, but Lord only knew how utterly intimidating _that_ looked so he opted to quickly put a stop to whatever his lips were doing.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to scare you." Hank was relieved when she smiled easily, finding that he preferred to see that up close and face to face instead of catching glimpses from around corners and through windows.

"How dumb would I sound if I said that I have no clue?" Jubilee asked with a chuckle, biting her bottom lip in her embarrassment. Hank chuckled.

"Not dumb at all," he eased while stepping forward slowly and bracing for impact of what her reaction would be to seeing him again, but this time being alone. When there was no sharp inhalation or the widening of her eyes, he blinked, confused. "People usually freak out."

The girl smiled.

"Don't see a reason why I should."

Hank was skeptical. Many a time had he heard that and whenever he so much as moved to scratch his nose they flinched and cowered. So was not the case with Jubilee because the closer he got the warmer her smile became. If anything, _Hank_ was the one growing terrified.

"What's your name again?" She asked while stepping aside to allow him access to the telescope.

"Beast," Hank said easily. With his eyes averted he fiddled with the telescope's eyepiece. Jesus, even closer still she was prettier than he had originally thought, and she smelled so _good._

Well, Raven had smelled good too- but different. Of dark spices and something else that up until now he couldn't place. But Jubilee smelled of cherry blossoms and fresh air with a touch of cigar- which Hank deduced was Logan's own loving contribution.

"I know _that_," she laughed, watching him. "I meant your real name."

Hank watched her from the corner of his eye as she moved around him to give him more room as he feigned reading coordinates from the scratch sheet of paper he pulled from his pocket, so-called "adjusting" the telescope. Her genuine curiosity caused him to stop and turn his head to study her. Still, there was no apprehension or uneasiness from being in such close proximity to him.

"Hank," he stated with a little nod of his head.

"Hank," Jubilee echoed softly. "I like it."

There was no denying that her words made him feel... human. But before he had the chance to say anything she was already moving away.

"Wait, you don't have to go. I- I could could teach you some of the constellations... if you wanted?" Hank lifted a large shoulder gently in his attempt to make it as casual as possible.

"Rain check." Jubilee smiled, lingering at the roof door. There was no way she could have missed the slump of Hank's large frame at her declining his offer. "Buuuut, I'm free tomorrow night if you're up to it."

Hank perked up at that and smiled, the action immediately halted when he realized what it was he was doing. Instead he nodded his head. "Definitely."

"Cool," she chirped. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Same time tomorrow," he confirmed. "...g-good night, Jubilee."

The use of her name halted her in the door and pulling back just slightly she watched him with a look Hank would have paid all the money in the world to have explained to him. Instead he watched as her smile softened, and bowing her head she slipped through the door.

It was safe to say that he no longer had any interest in the telescope now that she had gone.


End file.
